The twenty-first century public servant: creating a knowledge portal
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: INLOGOV
Abstract
Public services are presently going through huge changes in response to a range of issues such as the Big Society agenda, increased localisation, greater demands for service user voice and control, increased public expectations and a greater mix in terms of the economy of welfare services. Public service organisations are grappling with significant changes at a time when they are also making significant cuts to budgets. The public service organisations of today are no longer large public sector organisations such as the local authorities of the past but are likely to be smaller in size and increasingly likely to exist in the commercial sector or the third sector.
These changes have significant implications in terms of the types of roles that public servants undertake and their career trajectories. Whereas in the past an individual might start out in a junior role in a public sector organisation and work their way through various parts of that organisation, today it is more likely that individuals will work in a range of different organisations and institutions over the course of their career and also cross sectoral boundaries. Even where individuals may remain in the same organisation it is likely that they will be required to work more closely with those from other organisations, institutions and sectors as public services become ever more diversified.
The existing knowledge and practice around career development of public servants is yet to catch up with these developments. There is no common and shared route through which public servants are developed or through which they can gain access to information about the types of roles available and the skills and competencies they may need to develop. The training of public servants has traditionally focused too much on the core civil service, whereas the majority of people who work in public services may not fit this model. Whilst those who work outside of the public sector are often trained and developed through different routes. This is compounded by the fact that professionals within the public service workforce (e.g. doctor, social worker, teacher, accountant, lawyer) are trained specifically for that role to a certain set of standards and expectations. Further, the notion of the 'public sector ethos' has been too associated with those working in the public sector which does not well reflect the myriad of organisations who today are involved with designing and delivering public services. Neither does this effectively take account of the shifting role of service users as co-designers, co-producers or citizens.
This project aims to build on the findings of the University of Birmingham's Policy Commission into the 'Future of Public Services' which identified the desperate need to pay attention to the changing nature of the roles undertaken by public servants and the associated support and development needs. This project is a partnership arrangement between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council and aims to establish: the existing knowledge base on this topic; undertake new research into public service roles; and, to establish a knowledge portal which should support other public servants and public service organisations. The knowledge portal will set out details about the context of public service, the range of roles which are developing in public service, the skills and resources that are needed to fulfil these roles, an indication of where existing development opportunities are available and detail on the sort of local and national government support that might be required for public servants and public service organisations.
These changes have significant implications in terms of the types of roles that public servants undertake and their career trajectories. Whereas in the past an individual might start out in a junior role in a public sector organisation and work their way through various parts of that organisation, today it is more likely that individuals will work in a range of different organisations and institutions over the course of their career and also cross sectoral boundaries. Even where individuals may remain in the same organisation it is likely that they will be required to work more closely with those from other organisations, institutions and sectors as public services become ever more diversified.
The existing knowledge and practice around career development of public servants is yet to catch up with these developments. There is no common and shared route through which public servants are developed or through which they can gain access to information about the types of roles available and the skills and competencies they may need to develop. The training of public servants has traditionally focused too much on the core civil service, whereas the majority of people who work in public services may not fit this model. Whilst those who work outside of the public sector are often trained and developed through different routes. This is compounded by the fact that professionals within the public service workforce (e.g. doctor, social worker, teacher, accountant, lawyer) are trained specifically for that role to a certain set of standards and expectations. Further, the notion of the 'public sector ethos' has been too associated with those working in the public sector which does not well reflect the myriad of organisations who today are involved with designing and delivering public services. Neither does this effectively take account of the shifting role of service users as co-designers, co-producers or citizens.
This project aims to build on the findings of the University of Birmingham's Policy Commission into the 'Future of Public Services' which identified the desperate need to pay attention to the changing nature of the roles undertaken by public servants and the associated support and development needs. This project is a partnership arrangement between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council and aims to establish: the existing knowledge base on this topic; undertake new research into public service roles; and, to establish a knowledge portal which should support other public servants and public service organisations. The knowledge portal will set out details about the context of public service, the range of roles which are developing in public service, the skills and resources that are needed to fulfil these roles, an indication of where existing development opportunities are available and detail on the sort of local and national government support that might be required for public servants and public service organisations.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit?
The main beneficiaries of this project will be those public servants taking part in the research process and those who access the knowledge portal resource. This will also be of benefit to the public service organisations who employ public servants and policy makers who support local and national organisations in the development and support of public services and their employees.
Organisations involved in the professional development of public servants, including education providers, will also benefit from this project, as should students who are looking to enter into the field of public service.
How will they benefit?
Public servants should get an improved insight into roles, improved access to resources and sources of support and ultimately improved skills and career development. They should also ultimately have better and more appropriate skills and education training opportunities.
Public service organisations and policy makers should have a better understanding of the types of career trajectories of its employees and those from other institutions and sectors who may at some point work within their organisations or work with them from partner organisations.
Education providers, organisations involved in the training and development of public servants and students should benefit from better understanding of the skill and training requirements of public servants.
The main beneficiaries of this project will be those public servants taking part in the research process and those who access the knowledge portal resource. This will also be of benefit to the public service organisations who employ public servants and policy makers who support local and national organisations in the development and support of public services and their employees.
Organisations involved in the professional development of public servants, including education providers, will also benefit from this project, as should students who are looking to enter into the field of public service.
How will they benefit?
Public servants should get an improved insight into roles, improved access to resources and sources of support and ultimately improved skills and career development. They should also ultimately have better and more appropriate skills and education training opportunities.
Public service organisations and policy makers should have a better understanding of the types of career trajectories of its employees and those from other institutions and sectors who may at some point work within their organisations or work with them from partner organisations.
Education providers, organisations involved in the training and development of public servants and students should benefit from better understanding of the skill and training requirements of public servants.
Publications
Needham, C.
(2014)
21st Century Public Servant
Needham, C.
(2014)
The 21st Century Public Service Workforce: Eight Lessons from the Literature
Needham, C
The Twenty-First Century Public Servant: working at three boundaries of public and private
in Public Money and Management
Needham C
(2017)
The emotional labour of boundary spanning.
in Journal of integrated care (Brighton, England)
Mangan, C.
(2016)
The 21st Century Councillor
| Title | 21stC Public Servant card game |
| Description | We have worked with a social enterprise to co-design a card game based on the 21st Century Public Servant research, which public service organisations can use as a facilitation tool at staff development sessions |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | We have distributed 400 packs of cards, and organisations have reported to us that they have have contributed to changing attitudes and behaviours within public service teams. |
| Description | 1. Drawing on the literature review and fieldwork undertaken for the project, we have identified ten key themes shaping the development of the public service workforce (within the public, private and third sectors). These cover roles, skills and competencies, and inform the support, development and training requirements of the work. The themes are future-looking, reflecting the trajectories that people working within public services are experiencing. The themes are: The 21st Century Public Servant... • ...is a municipal entrepreneur, undertaking a wide range of roles • ...engages with citizens in a way that expresses their shared humanity and pooled expertise • ...is recruited and rewarded for generic skills as well as technical expertise • ....builds a career which is fluid across sectors and services • ...combines an ethos of publicness with an understanding of commerciality • ....is rethinking public services to enable them to survive an era of perma-austerity • ...needs organisations which are fluid and supportive rather than silo-ed and controlling • ...rejects heroic leadership in favour of distributed and collaborative models of leading • ...is rooted in a locality which frames a sense of loyalty and identity • ...reflects on practice and learns from that of others 2. In order to assist central and local government in better supporting and promoting public service careers, we have developed ten challenges (matching the ten themes above). They aim to stimulate reflective dialogue within public service providers and stakeholder organisations to enable them to move in the direction of the ten themes set out above. The challenges are framed as questions such as: • Do recruitment practices get the right balance between generic and technical skills? How can people be recruited on the basis of values as well as skills? • Career development: What opportunities can be created to encourage sabbaticals and secondments, into and out of the organisation? • Perma-austerity: are honest conversations going on about what the organisation can and can't do in an era of austerity, and do people understand their own role in that future? • Do appraisal, mentoring and peer support give people scope for reflective practice, to share and learn from mistakes and to take on new challenges (e.g. using social media)? 3. Consistent with the Knowledge Exchange principles embedded in the project, we have built strong links with our project partner (Birmingham City Council), which has enabled mutual learning (for example through co-interviewing). It has also continued into the reporting and implementation phases of the research, contributing to the Council's new workforce development strategy. 4. To provide a portal through which people can access the research, link to other resources and also engage in comment and dialogue, we developed a project blog. We worked with a graphic artist to develop images to go alongside each of our themes to provide a strong visual representation of the research. We also have a strong Twitter presence, using a project hashtag. This activity has helped to build awareness of and interest in the research, as well as developing the social media skills of the project team. |
| Exploitation Route | We are strongly committed to developing findings which will be useful to people working in public services. In particular we are focused on getting the work taken forward by those parts of public service organisations that focus on organisational design, workforce strategy, human resource management and education/professional development. We are confident that our project partner (Birmingham City Council) will utilise the findings in its workforce recruitment and development (following a commitment from the Chief Executive). We have been approached by around 20 other organisations who want to work with us to see how they can make use of the research. These span large regional bodies such as the North West Regional Employers Network and small organisations such as South Staffordshire District Council. We are working with the Local Government Association and the Public Service People Managers Association to explore how best to disseminate some of the good practice case studies that we have identified in the research. Interest in the research has also come internationally: we are partnering with the University of Melbourne to compare our results with their own research on public workforce reform. We have also been asked to share findings with the Swedish Local Government Association (SALAR). |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | http://21stcenturypublicservant.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | The key impact of the work has been in relation to increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy. The research findings were reported as 10 themes which organisations delivering public services could use to shape their strategic workforce development. There has been a large amount of interest in our work within the local government sector. We have been invited to present the research themes at around 35 conferences and events so far, nationally (including Scotland and Wales), regionally and in individual localities. A further 10 invitations are pending and we continue to receive invitations on a weekly basis. The events have focused on local government audiences, although we have also spoken to health, fire and police organisations. Some of the events have been delivered as part of professional development activities for local or regional public service workforces. Although the original research plan focused on developing a knowledge portal, the strong steer we have had from the local government sector is that the best way for us to realise impact is through sharing with them our distillation of the themes drawn from existing knowledge. In particular, audiences have engaged with the illustrations that we use to highlight the 10 research themes. The Local Government Association (LGA), the Society of Local Government Chief Executives and the Public Services People Managers Association have set up a national steering group to work with us to promote implementation of the research themes within local government. Six local authorities have formally committed to using the research within their strategic workforce redevelopment, including the Knowledge Exchange partner (Birmingham City Council). At the request of one council we have developed a 360 degree feedback exercise based on the themes from the research. This was undertaken by the executive leadership team and the results fed back to individuals and to the leadership team as a whole. Two further councils are about to undertake the 360 exercise and the questions have been made available to all councils via the LGA's Knowledge Hub. The steering group meets regularly with the six local authorities to share learning on how they are using the principles from the research in their strategic workforce reform. The steering group are also collecting evidence about the extent to which other councils are using the research as a framework for their workforce development. West Midlands Police are keen to work with us to develop their leadership approach based on the research. We were asked by the LGA and the North West Regional Employers Association to develop a parallel set of resources for 21st Century Councillors, which is one of the areas not covered by the original research. The North West Regional Employers used their contacts to arrange interviews with a range of councillors and to develop a programme of training for elected councillors, based on the findings from the work. The LGA involvement has provided a national platform for this work beyond the North West. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Independent evaluation of the 21st Century Public Servant research on local government |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Drawing on data from 211 out of 418 councils (a mix of surveys, web searches and various other sources) Dave McKenna, who undertook the evaluation, found that: At minimum, around half of all principal UK councils have at least some awareness of the research with over half of these councils having a good awareness. At minimum, around a quarter of all principal councils in the UK have experienced at least some benefit from the research with over two thirds of these councils experiencing significant benefit. English metropolitan boroughs, shire counties and shire unitaries had the highest levels of awareness and benefit. Scottish and Welsh unitaries along with English shire districts having the lowest. In terms of what councils are using the research for, leadership development was the most prominent activity with many councils using the research with their senior management teams and for leadership 'academies'. Workforce planning was also a common use as was support the development of competency/value /behaviour frameworks. The evaluation found that the research has made a difference for many staff, in particular those in senior positions. This has been marked by culture changes, specifically around greater delegation and role flexibility. The relevance of the research has been a key factor. As one survey respondent put it; 'the research has great resonance with us. We have embedded (or we are continuing to embed) the research in all areas of our activities as an organisation'. The range of activities where the research is being used alongside the number of councils that are using it for more than one thing points to its versatility and adaptability. This also suggests the potential for impact to keep growing in future; particularly if INLOGOV continue to disseminate, promote and develop the research. One of the survey respondents said; 'we are building it into our DNA'. |
| URL | https://21stcenturypublicservant.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/impactevaluationofthe21stcenturypublics... |
| Description | ESRC Impact Accelerator Award |
| Amount | £7,910 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2015 |
| End | 05/2016 |
| Description | 21st Century Public Servant blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The project blog is our main route for sharing findings from the project, and for drawing links between our research and wider debates in public policy. We have blog contributions from a wide range of practitioners and academics, as well as from the core research team We have been asked to contribute to training events run by the Civil Service College; we have been asked to speak at annual conferences and continuing professional developmentevents run by a wide range of organisations including the Local Government Association, SOLACE (the Society of Leaders and Chief Executives of Local Government), the Public Sector People Managers' Association and the Chief Fire Officers' Association. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://21stcenturypublicservant.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | Chief Fire Officers' Association conference, Swindon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the 21 cps themes to a group of senior managers within the fire service, and heard back from them what they felt the implications of the research were for the fire service Developed good links with the President of the Chief Fire Officers' Association who wrote a blog for our website, and recommended our work to the Police, who have invited us to speak at an event in late 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Collaborate launch, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented research themes as part of a broader panel discussion on leadership, alongside representatives from the Civil Service and local government. Questions from the audience focused on how to develop workforce capabilities at a time of austerity. Consolidated links with the chief exec of Suffolk County Council who agreed to be a trial site for implementation of the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Greater Manchester Councils workshop on devolution |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented research themes to senior managers from Greater Manchester, and facilitated group work on how they might use the themes as part of planning implementation of the Manchester Devolution settlement. Developed a working relationship with North West Employers which has led to a new research collaboration around the 21st Century Councillor. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Guardian online article (Guardian Public Leaders Network) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Article sparked discussion and comment on Twitter and via email We were contacted by Public Sector Regional Employers in a number of regions (North East, North West, South West, Wales) and asked to give talks to their regional conferences |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/may/15/professions-future-generic-public-serv... |
| Description | Health Services Management Centre policy breakfast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Health professionals |
| Results and Impact | Tested the emerging research themes with an audience of senior health managers, discussing the relevance of the findings for the health sector Attendees gave positive feedback on the relevance of the research for their own practice, including GPs, which was a group we had not expected to be facing the same sets of challenges/opportunities as local government workers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | How can the 21st century public servant survive an era of perma-austerity? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This blog highlighted key findings from the research, with a particular focus on austerity. It was hosted by the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham We were asked to speak at the South West Regional Employers association for local government. We have also been asked to speak to Local Authority Chief Executives from the South West region |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://inlogov.com/2014/07/09/how-can-the-21st-century-public-servant-survive-an-era-of-perma-auster... |
| Description | Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presented the research themes to policy audience, drawn from civil service, third sector, education and health, which led to a discussion of the relevance of the research across the sectors. Developed good links with a trade union attendee who then wrote a blog for us, helping to address the limited trade union voice in the project research. The event also helped to raise the profile of the research on social media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | International Research Society for Public Management, annual conference: 'Re-imagining the 21st century public servant' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Closing plenary of IRSPM conference on key challenges facing 21st century public servants, which used our research as the organisation theme, with one of the illustrations from our research as the backdrop An international audience compared their own experiences with research findings from UK and Australia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | International Research Society for Public Management, annual conference: Paper on 'Boundary spanning and emotional labour' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Conference paper and presentation, stimulated discussion about how the research compares to a US project project on emotional labour among public service workers Discussion of how best to bring together theories of boundary spanning and emotional labour, with plans to work on a journal article which brings together the UK and US research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | International Research Society for Public Management, annual conference: Paper on 'The 21st century public servant: Evolution or revolution?' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Conference paper and presentation on 21st cps themes, which led to discussion of how it compared to research from Australia on the 21st Century Public Service theme. Discussion of theoretical contribution of the research to understandings of public/private boundaries, and plans to write an article drawing together the UK and Australian research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Launch of Birmingham Policy Community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Birmingham City Council event for public, private, voluntary and private sector. We presented the research which stimulated discussion about how the research fitted with activiites being undertaken by other members of the local policy community. Raised awareness of the research in the wider policy community of the city. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Launch of the 21st Century Public Servant research findings, Birmingham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Research findings were presented to an audience from public, private, and voluntary sector, with commentary from Birmingham City Council Chief Executive and local Chief of Police, as part of 2014 Festival of Social Sciences, which led to a plenary discussion about how different public service sectors could make use of the research Raised awareness of the research outside of Birmingham City Council (the Knowledge Exchange partner), which led to several further engagement activities as we were asked to speak elsewhere about the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Local Government Association annual conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented findings at a breakout session of the conference which resulted in interest from a wide range of councils, and invitations to speak to attend events in individual councils. Chief executives have reported using the research as a framework for workforce planning and development, Invitations to speak to senior leadership teams. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Local Government Association/Social of Local Government Chief Executives/Public Service People Managers' Association conference (North East region) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the research themes to senior HR and corporate strategy directors from local government in the North East. Stimulated discussion about how to incorporate the themes into workforce redevelopment within the local government sector. Helped to build awareness of the research and led to future speaking invitations within individual councils |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Local Government Association/Social of Local Government Chief Executives/Public Service People Managers' Association conference (West Midlands region)) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the research themes to senior HR and corporate strategy directors from local government in the West Midlands, which led to discussion of how to implement them locally, particularly at a time of major budget cuts. Helped to build awareness of the research and led to future speaking invitations within individual councils |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | London Councils Workforce Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented to HR representatives of every London council, and heard their feedback on how the themes resonate within a London setting. For example one suggestion from the research is that people should live within or close to the council for which they work. In London this is likely to be unaffordable for many council workers. Opportunity to reflect on how the research implications may be different in London from in other areas. Led to follow up invitations to present at other London events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Manchester Senior Managers Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of 21st cps themes to senior management, followed by group discussion Manchester are considering the relevance of the research in relation to the Greater Manchester Devolution package and we are undertaking further research with them on this. This will focus on the leadership skills needed to work within a devolved system. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Media article (First magazine for local government councillors) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We have received invitations to speak at local and regional workforce employment events after the publication of the article We are discussing the possibility of using 21stC Public Servant work in workforce training for local government recruits |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.local.gov.uk/first-features/-/journal_content/56/10180/6200822/NEWS |
| Description | National Association of Regional Employers conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the 21 cps themes to public service Human Resources representatives across the UK, which led to discuss about whether the themes resonated with the issues they were facing within their own organisations The discussion generated a lot of follow-up interest and subsequent invitations to speak at regional and local events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | North East Public Sector HR Summit 2015 - "Time for a Change" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented findings to key public sector employers in NE, sparked discussion of how the themes might be useful in their own organisations. Feedback by email from the organiser (North East Employers): 'Thank you very much indeed for your contribution to yesterday's HR Summit. The session was very well-received by those attending and loads of people have commented on, not only the content of your presentation, but also on the wonderful slides!' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | North West Employers Annual Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented research themes which participants then discussed in groups Interest from councillors and chief executives especially about 21CPS leadership in combined authorities, which led to follow-up speaking enagements |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | North West Employers and NHS Leadership Academy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Health professionals |
| Results and Impact | Presented findings followed by discussion groups about how the work resonated with the issues they are tackling across health and local government Feedback from health participant included 'Your presentation was the best of the day in my opinion and resonated with all the issues I am trying to promote, develop and support the system with.' North West Regional Employers Association emailed to say: 'You really ended the note with lots of food for thought for the delegates and we are really looking forward to meeting soon to look at further joint working.' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Public Service People Managers' annual conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Tested the emerging research themes on an audience drawn from the local government Human Resources sector. Human Resources professionals reported that the themes resonated with their own dilemmas in seeking to promote workforce change, and fed back on how best to communicate the findings effectively to their peers in other councils. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Relationships in Public Services shouldn't be an after-thought |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Wrote a blog for the Relational Welfare blog hosted by the social enterprise Participle. Participle is an action research organisation which aims to do two things: Firstly, bring together the widespread community level ideas and creative activity, and mix it with world-leading experts in any given field; Secondly, drive forward thoughts and actions around developing a new social settlement which can deal with the big social issues of our time. http://www.participle.net/about/our_mission We were invited to present our research at a seminar hosted by the Institute for Public Policy Research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://relationalwelfare.com/2014/03/13/relationships-in-public-services-shouldnt-be-an-afterthought... |
| Description | Research presentation to a Local Authority Chief Executives' Action Learning Set |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Tested the emerging themes from the research with a small group of Local Authority Chief Executives Chief executives affirmed the relevance of the research themes for their organisations, helping to sense-check both the content and presentation of the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Seminar: 21st Century Public Servant: Australian experience |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Round table for University of Birmingham academics and visiting students from University of Melbourne undertaking an MSc module in International Public Management; led to discussion of the similarities and differences between public service workforce reform in Australia and the UK Increased awareness of the research outside the UK. Students from Melbourne utilised the research in their assignments for this programme. Many of them are part-time students working in the Australian public service, so had an opportunity to take the research learning back into their working lives, although we don't have a formal measure of this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Session for National Graduate Development Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented 21st cps themes to people and discussed how this resonated within their councils Raised profile of research within large number of councils who have graduates on the National Graduate Development Programme, and led students to look at how to implement the research in their own councils. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | South Staffordshire Council Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented research themes which staff then worked on in groups to discuss how best to implement them in their staff teams South Staffordshire Council's leadership team have decided to use the research as a strategic framework for workforce development. Their workforce strategy document says: "We view this research as critical in maximising opportunities during public sector reform and in developing our organisation to deliver our Council's efficiency and income plans for 2015 -2020." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Suffolk County Council Leadership Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Buy in from senior leaders from a range of public sector agencies that the framework is a useful one to guide leadership development. Feedback was that the audience found it thought-provoking and it was the first of many conversations about how we will use this piece of research to shape the way our leaders work in Suffolk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | Pre-2006,2006 |
| Description | University of Birmingham Careers in Public Service event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to students on the research as part of an event to inform students about public service roles and employment and internship opportunities, and answered questions about public service careers. Raised awareness of the project with student participants and public service providers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Wales Public Service People Managers' Association conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented themes to council senior leaders across Wales, and generated discussion about the distinctive context of public services in Wales. Raised awareness of research outside England. The feedback from the organisers was that the evaluation forms showed our session as being a particular highlight of the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | West Midlands District Chief Executive network Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented early findings to council chief executives from across West Midlands, which led to discussion of how they might implement the work in their local settings. Built awareness of the research. Led to invitations to address individual councils at future events and to contribute to regional employers session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Wokingham Borough Council - workshop on 21st Century Public Servant |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented to senior leadership team, story telling about where already happening in their area. Worked with them to refine the research into a set of questions which could be used to develop a 360 degree feedback tool. Developed 360 degree feedback tool which has led to the senior leadership team developing new ways of working, e.g. trying to embed time for reflective practice in their working week |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |